Ben, I think you're right about the source of PL in this country. Mine came from Burling, and I reached out to her earlier this summer to ask about its origin. She said her plant came from Ludwig's daughter: "A few years ago, she came to the States and went in partnership with another rose grower in Arizona. His name was Taylor Francis. Their partnership ended and she was looking to start a nursery in Oregon. She stop by my nursery and she gave me some cuttings, and one of the roses was Purple Lodge. Whether it was the correct one or not, I really can't tell you." I've wondered whether the cutting Burling received was accidentally mislabeled, and it might have been a similar named rose, e.g., Purple Breeze (see link below), which looks very similär to the PL circulating here in the States. Whatever it is, it's a remarkably dark rose, repeats well and has never shown any sign of disease in my garden. I do wish we could get our hands on the PL rose they're growing in Europe, though! https://www.nirpinternational.com/en/garden-rose/209/PURPLEBREEZE

I failed to do the most important thing here which was to give you a scale. You folks guessing Wide Brim seem to be right, may correct…… here’s a pic of both again with scale. I apologize of the holey leaves——- this year I had some burn from the drenching on a number of hostas. I also think the one holey one has some slug damage😠 back yard WB, I bought this labeled as such: Flower Front noid Flower

What a lot of blooms you have, and they look so good. We have been rather cooler than normal, and drier, but now that we are getting rain and temps are heating up, I am seeing scapes all over the place. My iris were really affected by the winter, or late freeze. I had many that did not bloom this year. Did not put on nearly the show they usually do. I had some peonies that did not bloom either, but can't really explain them. They were later blooming ones that did not get hit by later freeze at all. Plants look great. Early bloomers all bloomed. It was the yellow varieties that did not bloom, odd.

My water bill will be huge, but water is more important than fertilizer. I would not be so sure that the March and April freezes (after February warmth) will not affect your plants. I thought that too, but am seeing low bud count now. Things like bud count are affected by weather long before scapes begin to form. It does seem, though, that scape density is fairly good this year. Too early for firm conclusions.